Blue Whale

Blue Whale

Other interesting statistics about blue whales:

• Adults weigh on average between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds.
• During the feeding season, blue whales must eat two to four tons of krill per day.
• At birth, a blue whale is about 23 feet long and weighs 5,700 to 6,000 pounds.
• A nursing mother produces over 50 gallons of milk per day.
• Nursing calves gain 9 pounds of weight per hour or over 200 pounds per day.

Source:
http://www.tmmc.org/blue.htm

A truly remarkable creature, the largest known living animal on the planet.

Like all rorquals, the Blue Whale is a filter feeder. This means that it takes in great gulps of water that it then filters through its baleen - great plates fringed with bristles that take the place of teeth in these creatures - straining out the tiny crustaceans that are the great whale's food.
These crustaceans - krill - are then dislodged from the baleen plates by the tongue.

The Blue Whale has around 300-400 of these plates, and can easily consume several tons of krill a day.

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